What is good PowerPoint design?

Occasionally, I'm asked by colleagues or clients to send samples of "great slides" or "good PowerPoint." I usually hesitate to send examples of slides since my answer to the question, "what does a great PowerPoint slide look like?" is "...it depends." In a world which often thinks in terms of absolutes — "this is good, that is bad" — "it depends" is not the most popular answer.

Context matters
However, as far as design is concerned, it is useful not to think (judge) in terms of "right or wrong," but rather in terms of what is "appropriate or inappropriate." That is, is it appropriate or inappropriate for a particular context? "Good" and "bad" are indeed terms we use when talking about design — including  PowerPoint slides — but I'm personally cautious of this dualistic thinking, especially when judging a design without its full context available. So much depends on how the visual is placed within the context of the presentation, and the content and objectives of that particular presentation are of paramount concern. Without a good knowledge of the place and circumstance, and the content and context of a presentation, it is impossible to say this is "appropriate" and that is "inappropriate."

Simple but not simplistic
If there is one important precept worth following, it is the idea of simplicity. The best visuals are often ones designed with an eye toward simplicity. Yet, this says nothing about the specifics of a visual presentation. That will depend on the content and context. For example, even the best visuals used in support of a presentation for one audience on, say, quantum mechanics, may appear complicated and confusing to a different audience.

Simplicity is often used as a means to greater clarity. However, simplicity can also be viewed as a consequence. A consequence, that is, of our careful efforts to craft a story and create supporting visuals that focus on our audience's needs in a clear and meaningful way. Ok, simplicity is great you say, but how simple? What is the formula for simplicity? If you can't give me concrete examples, you might say, at least give me a formula for making powerful, simple visuals. But do static formulas for achieving simplicity exist?

In Living Zen, author Robert Linsen (in speaking on the simplification of needs in everyday life) says that a "simplification of existence" is a consequence of an "effective experience of Zen." In other words, as one discovers their true nature, "needs" such as possessions or status are reduced or seen for what they are: superfluous. This begs the question then: "What are the minimum or maximum needs for an individual?" To this the author responds

"No one can define them or draw up a system around them. That is where we should exercise our judgment....Use depends for each one of us on the place and circumstances. If we were to codify the laws concerning it they might soon become a great bondage for us."

Here the author is not necessarily speaking of design and presentation visuals, of course, but we can see how we can apply Zen principles to everyday life including design, even the design of slides and other visuals. Simplicity is an important design principle. But simplicity in design is as much art (small "a") as science. It is, therefore, quite difficult to offer up prescriptions or "rules" for appropriate design. Without full knowledge of the context and circumstances, such rules could become "a great bondage," so to speak, leading to inappropriate design choices or recommendations.

Visual makeover
Having said all of that, below are a few slides demonstrating different visual treatments in support of a single message. The context is a presentation on gender and labor issues in Japan. The purpose of the slide is to visually support the claim that "72% of the part-time workers in Japan are women." This statistic is from the Japanese Ministry of Labor. The figure "72%" is something the presenter said she wanted the audience to remember as it is discussed again as the presentation progresses. So how to design a slide that is subtle, simple, memorable, and fits into a theme that is appealing and attractive?

     

BEFORE. Above (left) is the original slide. The problem with the slide on the left is that the clip-art used does not reinforce the statistic, nor does it even fit the theme of women in the Japanese labor market. The background is a tired, overused PowerPoint template. The text is difficult to read. And as one trainee commented: "it's ugly."

The slide on the right (above) was an effort to display the same information in a pie chart. Besides using an overused template, the visual displays the pie chart in a distorted and inelegant fashion. For the sake of clarity, it is usually best to avoid 3-D effects. Also, rather than giving the slide a title, a declarative sentence that states the point directly may be more appropriate.

     

AFTER: All the slides were redesigned to match the theme above. The slide on the left was the one used for the presentations. But the one on the right could also be used effectively. Notice that either slide (especially the slide without any text) would be virtually meaningless without the presenter's narration. The handout that followed the presentation expanded on the relevance of the statistic and gave it context. The five-page handout proved to be a good reference for those who attended the presentation and for those who did not.

                           

Using a pie chart is also a good way to represent this simple statistic. Here (left) the large text at the top can be easily seen. The text reads more like a headline — a declarative sentence — rather than just a title or category. The slide on the right is another possible way to support the message. In this case a completely different template was used.

Should you design your slides to look like this?
The design choices are many. The examples above are just a few attempts at improving the look & feel, impact, and effectiveness of the original slides. Should you design your slides to look like this? That's your call and depends on your specific circumstance. Also, this particular example does not deal with a technical presentation. If your presentation is on a less technical topic such as leadership, HRM, marketing, etc. then simple slides like these may be very effective. If you are giving a very technical presentation to a technical audience hungry for data, then your slides may look quite different. But even for a very technical presentation, embracing simplicity of design and striving for the greatest clarity possible should still be the objective. How you do that will depend on a great many things.

In future I will show a design makeover featuring more technical content. In the meantime, if you have good examples of visual support for very technical presentation content, please feel free to share it with me. I'd love to see your examples.

Comments

[Bob Befus]

Very thoughtful, well written piece. As I was reading, I remembered an idea usually attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., (The US Supreme Court justice, not his father the author), about simplicity. He said he wouldn't give a fig for simplicity on the near side of complexity, but would give his right arm for simplicity on the far side of complexity.

In design, simplicity often is the result of an intense process of "complicating", which, when vigorously developed and refined, can result in the kind of rich, elegant simplicity you speak of.

[Garr]

Good comments, Bob. And you are right -- good design is not easy or "simple" to achieve, especially when the outcome is "elegant simplicity." But elegant simplicity in presentation design can be a great differentiator in today's business world. Thanks, Bob.

[Dhanalakshmi.G]

I was looking for some methods of presentation as I am part of a Training team of a company. I think I have read a lot of interesting things in this site. Simplicity is the essence for maximum grasp of a subject. I think that a visual with less information but more expressive lasts longer in the minds than a series of statements. This site was informative.

[Marco Bakera]

Thanks for that concrete example and the flow of ideas. It was really helpfull for me. :)

[Urbi Mukherjee]

Hello Garr

I work as a business analyst for Dell in India and most of the presentations that we see through the week are a mass of numbers. I was trying to adapt to a more effective method of presentation when I came across your site. Your articles and the connecting links have changed the way I create my presenations and the thought that goes behind each topic. Thank you so much for this eye-opener!! People actually sit up, take notice, enjoy the presentation and finally RETAIN the information.

Regards
Urbi

[mirou]

To make a good PowerPoint presentation, isn't it easier to use... Keynote ? ;-)

Joking aside, thank you for those very useful tips.

[mariam]

this is almost like these my thoughts, & design beliefs put here so eloquently.i will forward your link to all my colleagues & clients:)

[e]

bullshit

[Darknet]

Pretty useful stuff, thanks for the tips.

[Speedmaster]

Good post, thanks. PP may be one of the most abused pieces of SW ever. As much art as science imho.

[Todd]

I agree with your essay and bibliography. Especially reference to Edward Tufte (http://www.edwardtufte.com). BUT, I would have been more direct and simply stated (although it appears to be simplistic in the way you are trying to avoid)--to many persons think Powerpoint is "how to give a presentation":
1. Use it for visuals (avoid use of bulleted words!)
2. Talk to people. If you follow #1, you must follow #2 or you will not have a presentation.

We have decided against the use of any powerpoint in our presentations (a small consultancy) unless it is specifically used to convey a message through images or creative display of data.

*Tufte gives out a 11x17 (US paper size) piece of paper with the notes he wants you to "get". This avoids the annoying reprint of all your slides and engages the person in a way that is meaningful and productive---ie. this is not a speech, but a lopsided conversation in which the speaker hopes you will listen and react.

Todd

[Taylor]

Excellent post. This should be required reading for anyone who uses PowerPoint.

[Keith]

I agree that it is very important when it comes to Powerpoint presentation, as to how much it will capture the audience's attention. Giving statistics such as above is pretty simple, but when it comes to giving contextual presentations, wordy presentation are almost unavoidable. Furthermore, if when Mathematicians are to give presentation, everything will just end up becoming equations and formulas. Have you any tips for people from these area?

[Jason]

Very useful indeed, yes. But, and I think this was already mentioned, wouldn't it just be easier to use Keynote? Since Apple's templates already look like the example here, it seems that would make a little more sense.

I don't necessarily fault the presenter for a bad visual presentation if they're starting out with a handicap to begin with.

[Notorious BLT]

I'm sick of the "Well just use Keynote" BS.

All of you Apple fanboyz need to get your ego out of the way.

Good design is good design, regardless of software/platform issues. So what if Keynote has some pretty templates that come with it. PPT has some too AND there are a ton of good looking templates on the net.

It's not the tool, it's how you use it.

[Notorious BLT]

I'm sick of the "Well just use Keynote" BS.

All of you Apple fanboyz need to get your ego out of the way.

Good design is good design, regardless of software/platform issues. So what if Keynote has some pretty templates that come with it. PPT has some too AND there are a ton of good looking templates on the net.

It's not the tool, it's how you use it.

[web design london]

Great post!

It will really help me with presentations.

Keep up the great work

[Tony]

I've yet to see a well designed powerpoint presentation, I find the lack of common(sense) design elements a huge cause for concern. If you know how powerpoint works and have some sense of design then things could perhaps work, however most people using the program have no idea about design and find it hard enough trying to insert a table let alone some style.

[Alvis]

Thanks for this. I've been looking for ways to get more out of PowerPoint.

[DJosephDesign]

Zen, I think that you're on of the few others who see the true need for professionally-designed presentations. I'm amazed that businesses will spend so much in producing engaging videos, eye-grabbing packaging and advertisements, and dramatic audio commercials. But when it comes to presentations, they almost always stick with the generic templates in their presentation software (usually PowerPoint) and load it full of information.

Typical "PowerPoint" presentations are what the marketing world would be like without graphic designers.

[Mark Schraad]

The genesis of most bad presentation is the lack of coherent strategy. In short, your presentation needs specific goals and objectives.

Too often, a presentor will try and use the slides as talking points so that the audience can follow along. If that is really needed, hand out an aggenda or outline.

If the presentor is trying to broadcast compete documentation of the information... then write it. An execuive brief or even a working paper can easily be handed out or emailed as a follow up. The rendering of a "do everything" presentation is always ugly. Simply use it as emphasis of the important points and to accent your oral information.

This is just not that hard and it is certainly not about software and dazzling effects.

[Karl]

Thanks! Great Tips!

[Karl]

Thanks! Great Tips!

[Eugene F]

I personally like keynote. I have only used it once and loved it. I hate powerpoint even though I own a PC. I personally think to find great templates, it costs a lot of money. Also animation is the great feature with keynote. In powerpoint you have to use flash and so forth, to complicated simply to create a good presentation.

[Tonio Loewald]

I note the Keynote remarks and also that the "AFTER" slides look like they were put together in keynote (both the typography and the good compositing are features of Keynote and non-features of Powerpoint).

Simple, clean, elegant slide design is perfectly possible in PowerPoint, but you need to ignore the templates (or make your own), avoid the clip art, and struggle against the UI.